After relinquishing a 2-0 lead early in the second period of game one of the NHL Finals and falling 4-2, the St. Louis Blues at many points of game two thoroughly outplayed the Boston Bruins at TD Garden Wednesday night. Tuuka Rask was able to stand tall and force overtime, but Carl Gunnarsson scored just under four minutes into overtime to lift the Blues to a 3-2 win and even the best of seven series 1-1.
Boston got off to a better start than game one in a first period filled with plenty of action. Jake Debrusk on the powerplay skated down to the red line to the right of St. Louis goalie Jordan Binnington, and centered a pass to Charlie Coyle in the slot who one timed it in at 4:44 to make it 1-0. The Blues tied it at 9:37 when Robert Burtozzo fired a shot from the right wing boards that deflected off Bruins defenseman Matt Grzelyck and beat Rask into the top of the net. Joakim Nordstrom regained the lead for the hosts just 40 seconds later. After a Blues turnover, Sean Kuraly got control of the puck behind the St. Louis net and backhanded a pass out in the slot for Nordstrom, who patiently went forehand and then backhand to wait for the goalie to open up and beat Binnington five hole at 10:17. The Blues once again tied the score at 2-2 on a breakout by Jaden Schwartz. Schwartz had his wrist shot from the left faceoff dots stopped by Rask, but the rebound kicked to Vladimir Tarasenko in the slot who also was stopped on a backhander by Rask, but was able to get a second chance that he roofed into the net also on a backhand at 14:55. It was the eighth straight game with at least a point for Tarasenko. Grzelcyk exited the game after a hard hit along the boards to the head by Blues defenseman Oskar Sundqvist, and never returned. The Blues outshot the Bruins in the opening period 10-8.
St. Louis carried the play in the second period, but Rask came up with several key saves to keep the score tied. Boston defenseman Connor Clifton was called for a double minor for high sticking with 4:21 left in the middle period, giving the Blues a golden opportunity with a four minute powerplay. Brad Marchand had a chance shorthanded with two minutes to go on the St. Louis powerplay, but never got a shot on goal and his pass was deflected away by the Blues defense. Seconds later Alexander Steen had a great chance in on Rask, but was turned away and Schwartz was called for goalie interference on the play to thwart the man advantage chance. Neither team managed anything in the final two minutes and went to the locker room still tied 2-2. St. Louis outshot Boston 14-6.
St. Louis once again carried play early in the third period and had seven of the first eight scoring chances in the stanza. Tarasenko and Schwartz had good chances in close on Rask, who stood tall as he has the entire playoffs. Boston did pick up the play as well on the other end, including a powerplay after a Brayden Shenn slash with 6:38 left to try to get something going. The Bruins had no shots on goal in the previous three man advantage opportunities. Boston got three shots on this powerplay but nothing came of it. Patrice Bergeron had a good chance in tight on Binnington with a little less than two minutes to go, as did David Pastrnak alone in the slot after a Bruins faceoff win but was stopped with 47 seconds left. Blues defenseman Gunnarsson rang one off the post that had beaten Rask glove side in the final 30 seconds, and the two teams would need overtime to decide things.
The Blues immediately swarmed the Bruins net in the extra session. Boston had a delayed penalty coming for a trip by Brandon Carlo, but St. Louis kept control of the puck and got it to Gunnarsson. The 32 year old defenseman didn’t miss this time with a slapshot from the right point with a screen from Alex Pietrangelo beating Rask stick side at 3:51 to end it. It was Gunnarssons first career playoff goal. The Blues had all four shots in the overtime, as the Bruins never really gained possession of the puck. The loss ends an eight game playoff win streak by Boston, where they have still outscored their opponents 34-14.
Rask ended with 34 saves in the loss. Binnington made 21 saves in the win for the Blues. Gunnarsson was the only multiple point scorer in the game with the game winning goal and an assist. Boston was 1-5 on the powerplay, while St. Louis went 0-3. It was the first loss in the playoffs for the Bruins in almost a full month, since a game three defeat to the hands of the Columbus Blue Jackets in the second round back on April 30th.
Game three will faceoff at Enterprise Center in St. Louis, Missouri on Saturday night at 8 p.m. It is expeced to be an unbelievable atmosphere for a Cup Finals game, as it the first one to be played in the city in 49 years.
